In their performance of Brahms' Violin Concerto, violinist Gil Shaham and conductor Claudio Abbado have created one of the warmest and most lyrical recordings of the piece in years, if not decades. Without sentimentality or self-indulgence, they have wrapped Brahms' late-summer concerto in waves of rapturous sound, singing a hymn to ineffable beauty even as it passes beneath their fingers. But when they are joined by tender-toned cellist Jian Wang in Brahms' Double Concerto, Shaham's tone goes limp and Abbado's ...
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In their performance of Brahms' Violin Concerto, violinist Gil Shaham and conductor Claudio Abbado have created one of the warmest and most lyrical recordings of the piece in years, if not decades. Without sentimentality or self-indulgence, they have wrapped Brahms' late-summer concerto in waves of rapturous sound, singing a hymn to ineffable beauty even as it passes beneath their fingers. But when they are joined by tender-toned cellist Jian Wang in Brahms' Double Concerto, Shaham's tone goes limp and Abbado's accompaniment goes soft, creating a bashful recording of a robust and vigorous work. Only in the passionate love duet between the soloists in the concerto's Andante do Shaham and Wang sound fully committed and wholly compelling. This disc is worth getting for the magnificent performance of the violin concerto and the ardent performance of the Double Concerto's Andante, but skip the outer movements of the Double Concerto. ~ James Leonard, Rovi
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